The connection between abnormal protein phosphorylation and the cause or consequence of diseases has been known for over 20 years. Accordingly, protein kinases have become a very important group of drug targets. See Cohen, Nat. Rev. Drug Disc., 1:309-315 (2002), Grimmiger et al. Nat. Rev. Drug Disc. 9(12):956-970 (2010). Various protein kinase inhibitors have been used clinically in the treatment of a wide variety of diseases, such as cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases, including diabetes and stroke. See Cohen, Eur. J. Biochem., 268:5001-5010 (2001), Protein Kinase Inhibitors for the Treatment of Disease: The Promise and the Problems, Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 167 (2005).
The protein kinases belong to a large and diverse family of enzymes that catalyze protein phosphorylation and play a critical role in cellular signaling. Protein kinases may exert positive or negative regulatory effects, depending upon their target protein. Protein kinases are involved in specific signaling pathways which regulate cell functions such as, but not limited to, metabolism, cell cycle progression, cell adhesion, vascular function, apoptosis, and angiogenesis. Malfunctions of cellular signaling have been associated with many diseases, the most characterized of which include cancer and diabetes. The regulation of signal transduction by cytokines and the association of signal molecules with protooncogenes and tumor suppressor genes have been well documented. Similarly, the connection between diabetes and related conditions, and deregulated levels of protein kinases, has been demonstrated. See e.g., Sridhar et al. Pharm. Res. 17(11):1345-1353 (2000). Viral infections and the conditions related thereto have also been associated with the regulation of protein kinases. Park et al. Cell 101(7): 777-787 (2000).
Protein kinases can be divided into broad groups based upon the identity of the amino acid(s) that they target (serine/threonine, tyrosine, lysine, and histidine). For example, tyrosine kinases include receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), such as growth factors and non-receptor tyrosine kinases, such as the src kinase family. There are also dual-specific protein kinases that target both tyrosine and serine/threonine, such as cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs).
Because protein kinases regulate nearly every cellular process, including metabolism, cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and cell survival, they are attractive targets for therapeutic intervention for various disease states. For example, cell-cycle control and angiogenesis, in which protein kinases play a pivotal role are cellular processes associated with numerous disease conditions such as, but not limited to, cancer, inflammatory diseases, abnormal angiogenesis and diseases related thereto, atherosclerosis, macular degeneration, diabetes, obesity, and pain.
Protein kinases have become attractive targets for the treatment of cancers. Fabbro et al. Pharm. Ther. 93:79-98 (2002). It has been proposed that the involvement of protein kinases in the development of human malignancies may occur by: (1) genomic rearrangements (e.g., BCR-ABL in chronic myelogenous leukemia), (2) mutations leading to constitutively active kinase activity, such as acute myelogenous leukemia and gastrointestinal tumors, (3) deregulation of kinase activity by activation of oncogenes or loss of tumor suppressor functions, such as in cancers with oncogenic RAS, (4) deregulation of kinase activity by over-expression, as in the case of EGFR and (5) ectopic expression of growth factors that can contribute to the development and maintenance of the neoplastic phenotype. Fabbro et al., Pharm. Ther. 93:79-98 (2002).
The elucidation of the intricacy of protein kinase pathways and the complexity of the relationship and interaction among and between the various protein kinases and kinase pathways highlights the importance of developing pharmaceutical agents capable of acting as protein kinase modulators, regulators or inhibitors that have beneficial activity on multiple kinases or multiple kinase pathways. Accordingly, there remains a need for new kinase modulators.
The protein named mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin), also called FRAP, RAFTI or RAPT1), is a 2549-amino acid Ser/Thr protein kinase, that has been shown to be one of the most critical proteins in the mTOR/PI3K/Akt pathway that regulates cell growth and proliferation. Georgakis and Younes Expert Rev. Anticancer Ther. 6(1):131-140 (2006). mTOR exists within two complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2. While mTORC1 is sensitive to rapamycin analogs (such as temsirolimus or everolimus), mTORC2 is largely rapamycin-insensitive. Notably, rapamycin is not a TOR kinase inhibitor. Several mTOR inhibitors have been or are being evaluated in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer. Temsirolimus was approved for use in renal cell carcinoma in 2007 and everolimus was approved in 2009 for renal cell carcinoma patients that have progressed on vascular endothelial growth factor receptor inhibitors. In addition, sirolimus was approved in 1999 for the prophylaxis of renal transplant rejection. The interesting but limited clinical success of these mTORC1 inhibitory compounds demonstrates the usefulness of mTOR inhibitors in the treatment of cancer and transplant rejection, and the increased potential for compounds with both mTORC1 and mTORC2 inhibitory activity.
Somatic mutations affect key pathways in lung cancer. Accordingly, identification of specific mutations associated with lung cancer may lead to improved therapeutic protocols. Recent studies have uncovered a large number of somatic mutations of the LKB1 gene that are present in lung, cervical, breast, intestinal, testicular, pancreatic and skin cancer (Distribution of somatic mutations in STK11, Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge).
Citation or identification of any reference in Section 2 of this application is not to be construed as an admission that the reference is prior art to the present application.